Chapter 6: The Death of Zhou Bing

It's night

The white-clothed child followed the old man Li Gang to the living room, saying that the living room was just a grass hut.

The thatched hut was extremely simple, with nothing but an old square table, two or three bamboo chairs, and a half-meter-high wooden bed.

All that remained were the few farming tools standing upright against the base of the wall.

It is surrounded by earth-brown mud walls, and the roof is made of wooden beams, and the beams are topped by straw huts.

The old man Li Gang walked in with a basin of hot rice, and he shouted without looking back: "Baiyi, it's time to eat." ”

At this time, the child in white ran in from the yard, and the old man Li Gang saw the child in white walking in and ordered, "Go to the yard to wash your hands and prepare for dinner." So saying, the old man walked to the kitchen again.

The boy in white was very well-behaved, and he obediently ran out to wash his hands, and then he ran in again.

As a result, what surprised him was that the rice bowl on the dinner table, which was originally two bowls of batter, has now become a bowl of batter and a bowl of clear soup.

He glanced at the bowl in front of the old man, which only had a few vegetable leaves, which was almost a clear soup, and asked puzzledly, "Grandpa, why don't you eat batter?"

After hearing this, the old man smiled kindly and said, "Grandpa is not hungry." Then he pushed the batter of the child in white and said, "Eat it while it's hot." ”

The white-clothed child was immediately displeased when he heard this, pouted and said in a low voice: "Grandpa, are you not eating batter because those bad people want us to pay for food?"

The old man Li Gang looked stunned after hearing this, and then explained with a smile: "No, grandpa is not hungry today." However, as soon as he finished speaking, Liu changed his mouth and explained: "No, grandpa has already eaten batter when he was on the stove just now." ”

Listening to the old man Li Gang's explanation, the child in white looked at him suspiciously and asked in disbelief, "Have you really eaten it?"

After hearing this, the old man Li Gang nodded with a smile and said, "I've eaten it." Grandpa didn't lie to you. ”

After listening to the old man Li Gang's explanation, the white-clothed child walked to the dining table suspiciously and picked up the bowl, he glanced at the brown slimy thing in the bowl, hesitated and began to eat.

Seeing the white-clothed child eating in a big gulp, the old man smiled happily.

He has been alone since he was discharged from the army, and then accidentally picked up an abandoned baby five years ago.

Because he couldn't bear to see the abandoned baby frozen to death in the wilderness, he picked him up and adopted him as a grandson.

Because he didn't know the identity and surname of this abandoned baby, he had to give him his surname and name it Baiyi.

Seeing that Li Baiyi was fooled by his own three or two sentences, the old man couldn't help but laugh in his heart, and sighed in his heart: "It's still a child in the end." ”

After dinner, the child in white took out a broken straw mat from the grass hut and put it on the flat ground of the small courtyard, and then took off his straw shoes and sat down with bare feet.

At this time, he looked up at the old man with his little head and asked curiously: "Grandpa, is it true that today you said that you are the soldier of General Ding Huding?"

Seeing the white-clothed child asking, a trace of remembrance flashed in the old man's eyes, and a smile appeared on his face wrinkled like the bark of an old tree. There was a hint of pride in his tone, and he recalled, "Yes. Grandpa was only twenty-one years old at the time, and he followed General Ding from north to south, fought dozens of battles, and killed many people. ”

As soon as he heard that his grandfather was really an official, Li Baiyi's eyes immediately lit up, and he looked at the old man with admiration and asked, "Grandpa, were you also wearing beautiful clothes like those bad people today?"

The old man was a little amused when he heard Li Baiyi's unabashed question, thinking that the soldiers had been equated with the bad guys in Li Baiyi's eyes.

But thinking about the current soldiers, there are few people who do not oppress the people as many years ago, and he smiled with relief.

Then he nodded and said, "Yes, grandpa also wears the clothes worn by those bad people." ”

At this time, Li Baiyi reacted, and immediately explained embarrassedly: "Grandpa, I didn't mean that you are a bad person. Grandpa, you're a good person, not a bad person. ”

After hearing this, the old man smiled and said, "Child, I know you don't mean that grandpa is also a bad person. It's just that Grandpa wears the same clothes as those bad guys, right?" said the old man and smiled happily.

Listening to the old man's words, Li Baiyi nodded with relief, and then he kept asking things like a curious baby.

The old man answered them one by one very patiently, and it was not until Li Baiyi was sleepy and fell asleep on the straw mat that the old man Li Gang stopped.

The old man who stopped to explain looked at the bright and quiet night sky and muttered, "General Ding, maybe my original choice was really wrong. ”

Early the next morning

After breakfast, the villagers gathered at the entrance of the village and waited for the old man to lead everyone to work in unison, but what made everyone puzzled and dissatisfied was that all the male laborers in the village came today, but only Zhou Bing was missing.

At this time, the villagers were discussing, some complaining, some cursing, and some even threatened to beat Zhou Bing.

"What's going on with the soldiers this week? Why haven't you come yet?"

"Wouldn't it be because the big guy said a few words to him yesterday and then he didn't work?"

"I think so. ”

"However, I don't think Zhou Bing should be that kind of person. ”

"That's not necessarily, as the so-called knowing people knows faces but don't know hearts. Who can guarantee that Zhou Bing doesn't resent us for talking about him like that yesterday?"

At this time, the old man standing at the front of the crowd stared, glanced at everyone and shouted in a deep voice: "Okay, everyone don't talk about yesterday's events anymore." From today onwards, no one is allowed to talk about yesterday's events. In addition, the matter of this grain increase order is not because of Zhou Bing, this is the imperial court is increasing grain. It's not up to us ordinary people to have the final say. Saying that, he paused, glanced at the sturdy man in the front row of the crowd and ordered: "Da Niu, you go to Zhou Bing's house to see what is going on with Zhou Bing." Ask him why he didn't come to work. Saying that, he paused for a moment and admonished: "Pay attention to the tone of your speech, don't mention half a word about yesterday's events." ”

The rugged and sturdy big cow responded with a "okay" and then turned around and walked towards Zhou Bing's house.

At this time, everyone was tired from standing at the entrance of the village, and many people squatted down, or sat directly on the ground and waited.

As a result, after a while, the strong man who went to see Zhou Bing's face changed, and he ran back out of breath.

Without waiting for everyone to ask, the big bull exclaimed with a pale face: "Zhou Bing...... Zhou Bing is dead!"

As soon as everyone heard Da Niu's words, their faces suddenly changed one by one, and the old man Li Gang's face sank even more after hearing it, and he immediately shouted: "Take me to see!"

Immediately, Da Niu took the old man and walked briskly towards Zhou Bing's house, and Li Baiyi, who followed the old man, also changed his face after hearing this, raised his calf, and followed quickly.

When everyone saw that Da Niu and the old man Li Baiyi had left, one by one, with ugly faces, you look at me, I look at you, and they couldn't help but panic.